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400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

Well, seven seconds has gone by and here I am, thinking about sex again. Not like that, you little perverts... I was thinking about sex in movies. It seems like, lately, the movies have learned to become sexy again. In the late 1960s, it became slowly acceptable to show nudity in American films. By the 1970s, many filmmakers were running with it. At some point during the 1980s and 1990s, some kind of conservative mood took over and the MPAA and other forces began taking sex out of movies, replaced with violence. As one clever soul put it: "if you show a breast, you get an R rating, but if you cut it off, you get a PG-13." Perhaps people have grown tired of conservatism lately because this year has been a good year for sex. In movies.

If you like sexy, funny women, for example, you can do no better than Anna Faris, who played a Playboy bunny last year and this year plays mall makeup countergirl Brandi, who listens to vulgar hip-hop and wears her good-time girl attitude like a revealing halter top. Her sex scene with Seth Rogen in Observe and Report (119 screens) contains so far one of my favorite lines of dialogue this year. She's downed several shots of something or other and a few pills on top of that. She's about 99% passed out as Ronnie Barnhardt (Rogen) pounds away on top of her. He stops, concerned about her well-being: "Brandi?" he asks. Suddenly, from between smears of lipstick: "Why are you stopping, motherf----r?"

So here's the $64,000 question: Are rape jokes funny? Jody Hill's Observe and Report has just gotten its first dose of bad publicity (not counting the Paul Blart: Mall Cop connection) thanks to a post in the NY Magazine's Vulture blog. They've posed the question: "Does Seth Rogen Rape Anna Faris in Observe and Report?" ... and, as you can imagine, this has sparked a debate among feminists and film critics alike.

Now if you've seen the Red-Band trailer for the comedy about a Travis Bickle-style security guard, you probably know what scene has caught the eye of critics. If not, here's a quick description: After a night of drinking and drugging, Rogen escorts a half-unconscious Faris (Brandi) to his home and the trailer later cuts to a scene in which Rogen is having sex with the incapacitated Brandi. Nice. When he hesitates, however, we hear a slurred voice pipe up with "Why are you stopping, motherf*****?" Guilt assuaged, right? I mean he's not raping her -- she's totally into it ... right? Well, I'll leave my opinion for a little later, but it seems like the answer at large has been a big fat whopping 'No'.

Over at Jezebel, fans have decided that Rogen and Hill have just gone too far, and that this is another in a long line of examples of the anti-woman stance today's successful comedies seem to be taking. But go for a stroll over past the New York Times and in their review of the scene, they acknowledge the rape, but also go on to say, "Before the scene is over she indicates that she had given her consent." Now Farris and Rogen have also participated in a little damage control regarding the scene in question, but unfortunately most of their answers have only managed to make it worse for those offended.

What does Zack and Miri Make a Porno get right, and wrong, about the world of adult films? What do adult films get right, and wrong, about sex? Why are most Hollywoood films so very, very un-sexy? What's the MPAA's problem with sex? And, with it being Halloween, what does this week's guest Violet Blue -- author, San Francisco Chronicle sex columnist and horror fan -- find scary about Ils, Dead and Breakfast and Daughters of Darkness? You can listen to the podcast here at Cinematical by clicking below:



As ever, you can download the entire podcast right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.

Not the act, or even the movie about performing the act in the city, but the word "sex" from advertisements in Jerusalem and Petah Tikvah (which is where the Egyptian musicians were trying to go in The Band's Visit, remember?). Apparently the large religious population of both cities isn't comfortable with the word appearing on ubiquitous billboards, which puts the Israeli distributor of this summer's Sex and the City in a tough spot. Advertising that includes the film's title is out.

Now, it is kind of funny that while the movie can be shown anywhere, ads for it are banned in certain cities because they include the word "sex." But it might not be as petty as it seems at first glance. After all, people have to make an affirmative choice to go see the movie in a theater, or rent it on DVD; billboard and poster advertising is invasive and inevitably confronts unwilling audiences. It's not necessarily irrational to let theaters show the film but ban certain forms of promotion that everyone will see. This sort of thing isn't unprecedented in the United States: we permit sales of tobacco, for example, but ban television advertising and, in many communities, billboards near schools; we permit pornography, but not always graphic advertising for same. The ban on "sex" strikes me as the same sort of thing. You can still argue that a sensibility that is offended by any mention of the word "sex" is itself silly, but that's a can of worms.

[story in USA Today, via Movie City News]

All this writing about sex, and I'm going to need a cold shower ... or two. Nothing makes a movie more memorable than a fantastic sex scene. If Jim hadn't tried to stick his "down there pal" into a pie, would American Pie be the classic that it is today? Would Brokeback Mountain still have been a major Oscar contender had Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger not attacked one another like a couple of wild (and horny) animals? Heck, Halle Berry chose the right script and the right time to let her guard down and roll around on a couch with Billy Bob Thornton -- and what did it get her? Yup, her first Oscar. And I can't be the only one to immediately think of the film Wild Things when I hear the names Neve Campbell and Denise Richards.

Let's face it -- sex sells. And sex also helps a mediocre film become one that's talked about for years on end. That said, those devious folks over at Moviefone have compiled a list of what they feel are the 25 Best Sex Scenes of All Time. All of the above aforementioned films are included (although I would've placed Monster's Ball ahead of the puppet sex featured in Team America: World Police), as well as more of our most favorite (and most heated, steamy -- orgasmic?) scenes and films like Bound (lesbian sex), Secretary (work sex), Unfaithful (adulterous sex), Boogie Nights (porn star sex) and the always-enjoyable Y Tu Mama Tambien (foreign-language sex). So take a look at their list, then come (hehe) back here and let us know which ones flow and which, well, blow.

Ah, sex scenes. They've been making bad movies tolerable for decades. But when you put a sex scene with a good movie, well now you're cooking with gas! The Independent Film Channel and The Nerve Film Lounge have just released a list of "The 50 Greatest Sex Scenes in Cinema." I should warn you up front, the list does not include any scenes from Wild Things, and therefore is completely irrelevant. It's still well worth a look. Here's their Top Ten: 10) Young Frankenstein (pictured), 9) The Big Easy, 8) Secretary, 7) My Beautiful Laundrette, 6) Betty Blue, 5) The Unbearable Lightness of Being, 4) Risky Business, 3) Mulholland Drive, 2) A History of Violence...And their choice for the Greatest Sex Scene in Cinema is...Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie doing some 70's-style (and rumored to be real!) thrusting in Don't Look Now. (The list also includes a sex scene that blatantly ripped off DLN -- George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez in the excellent Out of Sight, at #26).

The list contains dude-on-dude action (like Poison at #44 and Brokeback Mountain at #23), chick-on-chick action (like High Art at #42 and Bound at #20), and um..."confused" action (Boys Don't Cry at #27). There's hardcore penetration scenes (like those in 9 Songs at #29 and Shortbus at #38). There's one of the most unpleasant sex scenes of all time -- from Todd Solondz's Storytelling (#31), a scene that cleared out more than half the audience I saw it with. The funniest sex scene on there is probably the puppet porno of Team America: World Police at #14, but I've got to give props to their selection from High Fidelity (#41). It's not a turn-on, but it's one of the greatest depictions of jealousy ever put on film -- John Cusack imagining the mind-blowing sex his ex is having with Tim Robbins. There are some pretty baffling selections on the list, most notably Network at #35. I could ask a million people to pick their favorite sex scenes and I don't think a single person would even consider anything from Network. Network! Just to recap -- the list does not include the Denise Richards/Neve Campbell/Matt Dillon/bottle of champage breastacular extravaganza that is Wild Things, certainly the most paused and slow-mo'd film in VHS and DVD history. But it does include Sidney Lumet's satire on the state of television: Network. What would you guys add to or remove from the list?

Just a heads up, the list is arranged in a baffling and obnoxious way that switches you back and forth between Nerve.com and IFC.com. The only reason I mention this is because it shut down my net browser roughly 100 times, causing me to pull my hair out endlessly re-writing this article. Be warned.

In my rave review of Sarah Polley's remarkable new film Away from Her, I predicted its quick and painless death. The twin subjects of old age and disease rarely strike any kind of fire at the box office, especially with a lack of compensating younger characters. But I'm very happy today to be proven wrong. Playing on just 256 screens, Away from Her very nearly cracked this week's box office top ten, coming it at #12 in a week loaded with "Part III" blockbusters. (For comparison, the number one movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, is playing on 4362 screens).

Polley's movie also broaches the issue of sex; there's an unspoken tension between husband Grant (Gordon Pinsent) and wife Fiona (Julie Christie) over some affairs Grant apparently had with his female students back in the free-love hippie era. Grant feels gnawing doubt and confusion after Fiona checks into the home and befriends a male patient, Aubrey (Michael Murphy). And finally, Grant has a new affair with Aubrey's wife Marian (Olympia Dukakis), based on loneliness and on the sheer fact that their spouses don't really remember them anymore.

Directed by Oliver Assayas (Clean, Demonlover), the Cannes midnight selection Boarding Gate tells the story of Sandra (Asia Argento) -- a confused young woman trying to figure out her relationship with Miles (Michael Madsen), a financier who's fallen into a run of bad luck. Sandra and Miles used to be lovers, but that's over; Miles also used to hire Sandra to service visiting clients and turn their pillow talk into business intelligence; that's over, too -- but they still have plenty to talk about. ...

People much smarter than I are very fond of Assayas's work -- most especially Demonlover, a movie that elicited love-it-or-hate-it reactions from critics and viewers. Like Demonlover, Boarding Gate takes place in a hinky, kinky realm, a world of secrets and lies where big business, espionage, sex and emotional connection all combine. In Boarding Gate, though, there's one problem; the film has no motor to drive it. Sandra gets into trouble, sure -- and gets in deep -- but neither Assayas's script nor Argento's performance give us any reason to care if Sandra makes it though in one piece; the fact that Argento's character swings between seductive pouting and go-away petulance doesn't help. Argento may be an attractive mammal -- the film certainly thinks so, as it never skips a chance to show us her stripping down -- but as an actual actress, she's a washout. Not to be crass, but if Argento's line readings and character were as well-developed and fully-rounded as her breasts, I've no doubt Boarding Gate would have been a better film.

We're back! James Bond touches land, air and sea in this episode as we talk about our favorite Bond cars, the Spy-Fi Archives exhibit coming to the Queen Mary, and the re-opening of the 007 Stage in London. We also talk to a special guest in this episode, screenwriter and Young Bond Dossier expert John Cox -- who takes us into the literary world of the Young James Bond novels, which are very popular right now.

Some links and highlights from this episode:

• The 007 Stage reopens: visit their revamped website and check things out.
• The James Bond Car collection: subscribe and have Bond replica cars sent to you.
• Spy-Fi Archives at the Queen Mary: on exhibit April 7th through September 2007.
• John's amazing Young Bond Dossier site: check out the links to the Young Bond "apache" gadget, and the new Centenary Bond novel coming out next year.

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Okay, so it might be a bit creepy for an adult to admit that an animated character is hot, but come on, Jessica Rabbit wasn't really bad, she was just drawn that way, right? Animated characters have been sexualized since the early days of the genre because sex sold just as well back then as it does today. It's pretty evident when you check out all of Disney's animated leading ladies that they've been drawn to look appealing to the eye, going back as far as Snow White and Tinkerbell. (An interesting side note here, according to this interview with Margaret Kerry, who was the character model for Tinkerbell, she claims that her real name is Tinker Bell, two words, although Disney officially has it as one. Her interview is pretty fascinating, check it out.)

The Being a Man Spot over at fanpop has a list of Disney's top ten hottest women, and there are no real surprises on the list. What's notable are the omissions like Jessie from Toy Story 2 who was both sassy and smart, and Daisy Duck, who sort of falls into the creepy Wayne's World category of Bugs Bunny in a dress being attractive. Daisy had a fair amount of sass as well, and she didn't take Donald's nonsense either. That has to count for something, because she definitely wore the pants in that pants-less relationship.

The real question is, what effect does the traditional Disney female image have on young kids? Not everyone is a fan of the oversexed and vivacious look that runs rampant in the Disney-verse, arguing that it gives little girls an image to live up to that is far from what a normal person looks like, and that is sets a very limiting stereotype of what a heroine can look like. Barbie has faced the same sort of criticisms, especially during the whole "Math is hard!" fiasco, yet both Barbie and the Disney women are still created to look like pinup girls.

Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? What do you think, Cinemites?

[Thanks, Marsha]